Our A Peek Inside… series is made up of articles that take a look inside different people’s personal journals in an effort to celebrate the person’s creativity and inspire others. If you have a project that you would like to be featured please email facebook@hartleyandmarks.com.
This month we take a peek inside a beautiful, elaborate scrapbook created by Kendra. Kendra used a Ventaglio Rosso journal from Paperblanks’ Baroque Ventaglio collection. She tells us all about the project below.
Kendra’s Goal
“I started this project because I wanted a unique way to showcase my favorite photographs and a regular scrapbook wasn’t what I was looking for. My step-mom and I used to spend hours putting together scrapbooks of our vacations and special events so it’s something I’ve always loved to do. But I didn’t want this to be like anything I had done before. I really wanted to assemble it all from scratch and be proud of the end result.
“At the end of it I really wanted to have a journal with all my favorite photos, surrounded by beautiful paper that I hoped would enhance the photos and make them more interesting to look at.”
Creating The Scrapbook
“The idea came to me when I was in a store called Two Hands Paperie in Boulder, CO. I had been admiring their shelf of Paperblanks journals and had my heart set on the Ventaglio Rosso but I couldn’t think of what I wanted to do with it. While carrying the journal around with me in the store I stumbled on a basket that was filled with big packs of gorgeous Japanese paper scraps and the light bulb went on. I would use the paper scraps to create borders and backgrounds for my photos and use the journal as the platform!
“Many rolls of double sided tape later I was officially engrossed in the project and I think the intricacy of the journal itself really brought the whole thing together.
“The majority of the photos are ones that I took myself with my Nikon D3100. The only ones that are not mine are the Taj Mahal on ice, the match with the rose shaped smoke and the ones of my family (I used their Christmas cards for those). This project has really helped me to take my photography to the next level. Now when I take a photo that I know is going to turn out great I can’t wait to get a print of it and make a page for it in my journal.”
Kendra’s Next Project
“I am currently using the Silver Filigree Ultra in Natural to write down some true short stories from my particularly colorful high school years that I plan to someday turn into a fiction novel. I just got the journal last Thursday but I already have four short stories in it. I’m having so much fun writing these stories and I think using such a beautiful journal inspires me to keep going because I love seeing the blank pages get filled up.”
Tell Us Below What You Think!
If you have any questions or have embarked on any similar projects write us in the comments section below or via Facebook or Twitter!
About Paperblanks®: We have been producing superb writing journals for twenty years. We are book people, and we believe that the written word matters and that our blank books have a critical role to play in the art and continued practice of writing itself. For more about Paperblanks®, go to our website at paperblanks.com.
Kendra’s done a beautiful job with her book! Her layouts are gorgeous and the pages are a feast for the eyes!
Wow thank you, Sandra!
Kendra,
You have started a a wonderful journey using your remarkable talents in photography and writing skills. Looking forward to upcoming additions!
Thank you, Dad!! Love you!!
Absolutely gorgeous! Every single page is unique and delicious! Nice work Kendra. 🙂
Such a good work, very inspiring 🙂
What a lovely journal. You are very imaginative!
When I do something like that (though not as well as you!) in an ordinary journal, I’ll remove some of the pages to compensate for all the extra filling in there. Now I have the Ventaglio Rosso Midi I’d like to use that but the page edges are so beautiful I don’t want to spoil them by removing bits.
May I ask what you did? Or do you just use the book and not mind that it gets too thick to use the clasp?
Thank you!
Hi Ish,
Thank you for the compliment! I’m sure your journal will turn out great! My journal has gotten quite full and I did remove some pages (although it still won’t close all the way). To avoid spoiling the edges too much I removed just a few blank pages from different parts of the journal and when I found I needed to remove a few more I took them from the very end. You would have to look pretty hard to tell that I’ve cut any pages out.
I hope that helps and very best of luck with your journal! I’d love to see your project if you’d like to find me on Facebook under Kendra Lauritsen 🙂
Will do. Many thanks for the help. That’s good to know.